


lapis lazuli and nightshade

by timelessidyll



Series: magic in our veins [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, a bitchy old woman i threw in, her name is sugar, human taeyong, necromancer (?) taeil, taeil's familiar is a hellhound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 04:09:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14908061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelessidyll/pseuds/timelessidyll
Summary: Taeil's happy with his life, although it can get a little testing and tiring.(Taeyong has always been good at helping him.)





	lapis lazuli and nightshade

**Author's Note:**

> wow! the really short witch au that nobody needed! also the title might be a metaphor for 2tae, who knows.

The bell jingled cheerfully, the creaking of the door hinges followed by footsteps tapping on the floor. Taeil looked up expectantly, unsurprised to see Ms. Bennett standing in the doorway.

“Hello Ms. Bennett, are you here for the amulet?” His voice was slightly muffled behind the mask he was wearing to cover his nose and mouth. When Ms. Bennett smelled the potion Taeil was attempting to create, she scrunched up her nose in that posh manner most of the elderly enjoyed displaying and covered her face with her scarf.

“Yes, I am, deary.” Taeil’s customer friendly smile became strained even though it couldn’t be seen.

“Of course, please wait a few moments while I finish this stage of the potion.” He motioned vaguely for her to sit down on the couch, be it in the room or just outside, his attention already once again focused on the pot in front of him. The potion was a sickly green, but Taeil deduced that he had yet to add the crushed nightshade petals. After he’d shaken some in, it turned a pale red, almost pink, and started to get closer to the pale lavender he needed for the ritual tomorrow. He sighed, satisfied that the potion would remain stable for the moment while he attended to Ms. Bennett. Besides, he needed Sugar for the next stage. Setting aside the spoon he’d been using, Taeil left the kitchen to grab the amulet he’d created from the study room. He stroked the smooth wooden exterior for a moment, allowing a small smile to rise on his face. He’d spent more time on this amulet than he’d really wanted to, considering it was for Ms. Bennett of all people. But he’s also always been more inclined to do his best in any given task. This time, it just so happened to be to make an amulet.

“Ms. Bennett, here’s the amulet with your husband’s ashes,” he said, entering the living room to hand it to her. He watched her eye the amulet critically, searching for an imperfection to complain about, and Taeil found a strong sense of pride overcome him when she couldn’t say anything. “If that’s all for today, then you can give me your payment and be on your way.” She huffed lightly and brought out a small velvet pouch. Taeil opened it, taking out one of the smooth blue stones inside, only about the size of a quarter, turning it over and examining it with his eye. The lapis lazuli glinted in the light, the thin veins of gold running through it almost invisible because of the deep navy blue around it. He hummed, dropping it back in the pouch with the other nine stones. “Thank you for the business, Ms. Bennett. I hope the amulet treats you better than your husband did,” Taeil snarked as she stood up from the couch and made her way to the door. Ms. Bennett bristled and threw him a dark glare, but she continued on her way without a response, the amulet clasped in her hands like a lifeline. Whatever she used it for now, wasn’t his problem, Taeil thought idly, stretching himself like a cat before going to the study room to wait for Taeyong and Sugar to come back.

It was easy to tell when they had come back; if the loud crashes from across the house hadn’t alerted him, Taeyong’s laughter would’ve. He smiled widely when Sugar came bounding through the hall and crashed through the door, almost knocking it off its hinges to get to him. She jumped on him excitedly, her hollow, glowing orange eyes squinted in happiness and forked tongue licking him repeatedly as if they hadn’t just been together an hour ago. The rasp of her tongue on his face made him giggle, and because his eyes were shut to prevent Sugar’s tongue from getting in them – it had happened once before, and Taeil vowed _never again_ – he missed Taeyong’s figure in the doorway, where he had stopped to gaze at the two of them fondly. He whistled to call Sugar back to him and let Taeil recompose himself, laughing again when Sugar perked up and immediately strode over to him.

“Good girl, Sugar.” He clicked his tongue happily, crouching down to nuzzle his face against her’s. This time, Taeyong was the one to miss Taeil’s loving gaze.

“Aw, Taeyongie,” Taeil whined, reaching out and making grabby hands. “Won’t you give me a kiss like Sugar did?” He felt the laugh threatening to tumble past Taeyong’s lips when he leaned in, and it took everything Taeil had to not snicker into their kiss.

“Was that enough for you?” Taeyong’s eyes glinted, clearly playful and mischievous. “Or do you want another one?”

“As much as I want another one,” he sighed in mock despair, “Sugar and I need to complete the potion tonight.” Taeyong frowned thoughtfully.

“Is the true new moon already tomorrow?”

“Yes, and I only got the nightshade yesterday,” Taeil said with a short grimace. “I’m sorry you’ll have to wait a while, but Sugar and I need at least an hour to finish the final stage before it settles overnight.”

“It’s alright, Taeillie, you’ve done this before. I’ll go find something else to do while you finish, m’kay?” he offered, pressing a small kiss to Taeil’s forehead and scratching behind one of Sugar’s pointed ears as he left.

“Come on, Sugar.”

The final stage only needed Taeil to provide his own life energy to the potion so that it would help calm the unsettled spirits, but to do so meant putting himself under a self-induced coma that allowed him to use his magic to pick at his life force. Sugar’s role was to lend him the stability he needed to do that; she would keep him from going too far under, support him when he picked apart his life force, and fortify his magic when he transferred the life energy to the potion. He laid on the couch, unconscious under Sugar’s watchful gaze, for about forty minutes before he woke up feeling drained and listless. The disconnect of energy inside of him was taking effect in his physical and mental condition, but Sugar tugged at his shirt to force him to finish the potion. Taeil muttered a series of transportation spells under his breath, too dazed to speak louder, and slowly felt his cloudy mind clear as the potion gained his energy, although the tiredness seemed to increase. He stirred the potion a few times before deeming it safe to sit overnight before being bottled for the ritual and stumbled his way up the stairs to their bedroom, one hand on Sugar’s back so that he didn’t fall into walls and make a fool of himself. Taeyong had already heard him making his way up the stairs and was standing in front of their bed, ready to help Taeil change clothes since experience had taught him that Taeil could and would sleep in his sweater and jeans given his level of exhaustion.

“Come on, sleepy-head,” Taeyong murmured, slipping Taeil out of his sweater and jeans and into his cotton pajamas despite his muffled complaints. Taeil sighed when Taeyong led him to their bed and allowed to fall into it face first, his heavy head finally getting a well-deserved rest. Taeyong climbed in from the other side and Sugar jumped on with them, kneading her own place at the foot of the bed into the blanket. Taeil felt around with one searching hand for Taeyong’s hand and turned to face him. His eyes were still closed, but he knew that Taeyong was staring him, just the slightest bit of exasperation on his face.

“Cuddle me?” And Taeil definitely didn’t need to see the pure adoration that washed over Taeyong’s face after his words, a content smile settling on his lips when Taeyong’s arms encircled him and he fell asleep.


End file.
